Council Member Questions Signing Of Tower Contract

May 11, 1998|By MARK SPENCER; Courant Correspondent

VERNON — Although the town has signed an agreement with a private company to build a communications tower in the Vernon Center neighborhood, council member Marie Herbst said she questions whether correct procedures were followed.

Herbst said she was irritated at council Republicans for not allowing her to place the issue on the agenda at thecouncil's May 5 meeting, where area residents voiced opposition to the project.

``I was surprised because the item I wanted to discuss was what the citizens sitting in the chamber wanted to hear discussed,'' she said.

But supporters of the project say that Omnipoint Communications must now go before the planning and zoning commission for approval, and residents will have a chance to voice their concerns at a public hearing.

The town-owned land involved in the agreement may also contain wetlands, which would require review by the inland wetlands agency. Omnipoint has not made a formal application to the planning department.

Mayor Joe Grabinsky, who supports the proposal, said the company needed the agreement to go before the planning and zoning commission. Although the town will eventually own the tower and earn income from it, he said money is not the issue.

The tower -- a 152-foot-tall pole that would hold a communications antenna -- is proposed for a site behind the Vernon Center fire station. The tower would extend about 70 feet above the tree line.

Neighbors say it would ruin their views, lower property values and be out of place in a residential area. Several also said the potential health risks of the tower should be studied.

Grabinsky said he empathizes with the residents, but the town needs the tower to help eliminate ``dead spots'' in the communications network of fire and emergency services vehicles. Private companies also would be able to buy access to the antenna.

``It's one of those things you need, but of course no one wants it in their back yards,'' Grabinsky said.

Herbst said she was surprised to learn after the May 5 meeting that a contract with Omnipoint had already been signed. She said she will try to have the issue discussed at the council's May 19 meeting.

``I'm not opposed to towers, but I'm opposed to that location,'' she said.

The council voted 7-3 in April to authorize town Administrator Paul Mazzaccaro to negotiate a contract with the company. He said he sent a memo to council members outlining the agreement, so no one should have been surprised.

The tower would be owned by the town. Omnipoint would pay the town at least $900 a month for the tower, but payments would be suspended for seven to eight years while the town paid off the $80,000 to $100,000 cost of building it.

Including the money Omnipoint would eventually pay the town, fees from all companies using it could bring in about $27,000 a year, Mazzaccaro said.